Category Archives: Loire Valley

Art, Food, Loire Valley, Restaurants, Sightseeing

A Tapestry Shop and a Tea Room in Blois

September 7, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 11 Comments

I’m in the train again, going back to Paris and my shuttered-up apartment. But on Fridays, the workmen go home early so I won’t have to put up with the pneumatic drill for too long. Then on Monday, we leave for Australia for five weeks. We haven’t been for three years. Australia is a long way away! We’re having a stopover in Hong Kong on the way there and back. I can no longer do the 20-hour journey in one stretch. When I first left, 37 years ago, it took over 30 hours, with a one-hour stop in an airport every three hours so they could fuel up. The airports all look the same; only the people behind the counters of the duty-free stores give any indication of the local population and customs. Now it’s a mere 20 hours.

chateau_rear_facade — Blois Castle on the street side

But yesterday afternoon I was still in Blois so I went into the city for some last-minute shopping. It was a glorious day. The beautiful weather is holding up, just as we are about to go, of course. My first stop was a little souvenir shop in the street next to the castle recommended to me by my friend Françoise, who tells everyone she found me in the street – which is quite true, as you may remember from an earlier post. The woman behind the counter and another woman who seemed to be overseeing the shop in some way kept up a constant banter. It always amazes me to see how sales assistants ignore you completely. At least it gave me time to decide what to buy …

My next stop was quite a different experience – a family-owned tapestry shop called Langlois just a few doors on. I wandered in and could see no one about but a very pleasant and helpful man soon arrived and gave me information about the tapestries. What I thought to be a very modern collection of cushion covers is actually based on details from the beautiful mediaeval Apocalypse tapistry in Angers. Another series are long Art Deco panels, selling for about 500 euros. Some beautiful traditional panels go for around 1000 euros. There are also carpet bags, purses, jewellery and ornamental items of various shapes and sizes. I could have bought a lot of things in that shop had money not been a consideration!

My last visit was to « Les Forges du Château », a lunch/tea room/cellar/local speciality shop where my gîte guests, Sandy and Will, had had a very positive lunch experience the day before. Newly opened in June, it has a a small outside eating area and an upstairs area that ressembles a private living room and looks out onto the castle opposite, a shop with many original items and produce, a cellar in two parts – one that stocks local wines (free tasting on request) and a wonderful 15th century cellar downstairs with vintage bottles behind iron grids.

The restaurant/tea room, which is open until about 8 pm, offers an interesting selection of sandwiches, salads and hot dishes, at prices ranging from 5 to 15 euros, with desserts to follow. I will definitely be trying it out when we go back to Blois in October.

Langlois Tapestries, 1 rue de la Voûte du Château, 41000 BLOIS, + 33 (0)2 54 78 04 43, langlois-blois@waadoo.fr
Opening Times Monday to Saturday 10am until noon & 2.30 pm until 6pm Sunday and public holidays – by appointment Les Forges du Château 21 Place du Chateau 41000 Blois

France, Loire Valley, Sightseeing, Wine

Troglodytes in the Loire Valley and Vouvray wine

September 3, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 22 Comments

The first time I heard someone use the word troglodyte in France, I was a little surprised. It conjured up cave dwellers for me. But apparently I was going to be shown their houses – cave dwellers have houses? However, it turns out that in French, it also means a house dug out of a cliff.

troglodyte_cellar — Typical troglodyte cellar along the Cher River

The Loire Valley is very old and in many places both the Loire and Cher rivers are flanked by tufa hills. If someone needed a house or a cellar, they simply dug into the tufa, which is a fairly soft stone. It was then relatively easy to add doors and windows. Ventilation is a problem of course but not insurmountable. I really was intrigued when I saw them. It reminded me of Peter Pan and Wendy and their underground house.

troglodyte_house_1 — Troglodyte house with a cellar in the middle

The photos here were taken as we rode from Montou along the Cher River to Montrichard. Don’t you just love the details? One even has a TV antenna. And the doors are so low. They weren’t very tall in those days of course.

troglodyte_house_2 — A troglodyte house with a TV antenna!

Another area in the Loire Valley well-known for its troglodyte houses is Vouvray, the home of a very good natural sparkling wine made with a local grape called chenin blanc. It may not be champagne but it’s still very palatable – and much cheaper. Most of the cellars have been dug out of the tufa cliffs. We once visited the most extraordinary vouvray cellar with very, very old wines, that seemed to go on forever. The label on the bottle shows the door of their troglodyte cellar. Vouvray is also a very pleasant sweet wine made with the same grape.

vouvray_freslier_bis — Sparkling and sweet vouvray from Domaine Freslier

After the visit, we went for lunch in a troglodyte restaurant, which is also a local speciality! Very atmospheric with its rough-finished walls and candles in their niches. Unfortunately, it was a few years ago, so I don’t remember the name …

Vouvray wine

Domaine Freslier Jean Pierre

90 – 92, rue de la Vallée Coquette – 37210 Vouvray 02.47.52.76.61

Food, French customs, Loire Valley

Bread Ovens in the Loire Valley

August 30, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 10 Comments

Well, I shall start with my own! Closerie Falaiseau, our lovely house in Blois, has its own beautiful bread oven, unfortunately no longer in use, but Relationnel has every intention of turning it at least into a working fireplace.

oven_door_open — Our bread oven in the kitchen with the door open

The day we were given the keys, Mr Previous Owner opened the door to the oven and we were able to look inside. It has a beautifully renovated inside vault which it is a pity to hide.

inside_vault — The inside vault of our bread oven

Among the things that Mr and Mrs Previous Owner left us are two utensils related to the oven – one for raking the cinders and the other for putting the bread into the oven and removing it. Now, the wooden pincers that you can see on the left have nothing to do with bread. Do you remember those old-fashioned woolen mattresses with grey and white striped covers that had a sort of roll around the edges? Well, the pincers were used to pinch them into shape.

I doubt if you can guess what the next photo represents. According to Mr Previous Owner, the baker used a poker to check when the oven was hot enough. He’d put it in the oven, leave it for a few minutes, then test it on the beam above! I find this a little difficult to believe because if it were true, there would theoretically be a lot more burn marks, wouldn’t there ? It’s a nice story anyway …

beam_burn_marks — Burn marks on our oven

Mrs Previous Owner, who is one of those people with the knack for finding authentic objects, managed to salvage three bread baskets when the local bakery closed down several years ago. They were used to shape the loaf as it rose.

Up on the hill behind us is a house with a lovely little village bread oven, that is, it’s not inside a house but separate. Baking day was usually once a week and all the villagers would prepare their bread and bring it along to cook because only the bigger houses like ours had their own oven.

bread_oven_blois — Bread oven in Les Grouets in Blois

When we were cycling to Chaumont one day, we came across another type of village oven as we left the little village of Candé sur Beuvron. As you can see, it’s a much bigger and more sophisticated affair than the one in Blois.

bread_oven_near_Chaumont — Bread oven in Candé sur Beuvron

I currently make my own bread with a bread-making machine, you may remember, so I have high hopes of one day being able to bake it in my own wood-fired oven!!!

back_oven — Our bread oven from the back

Cycling, Loire Valley, Paris, Renovation

Back to Blois

August 27, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 8 Comments

When we packed up the weekend before last, we thought we’d just be spending one more weekend in Blois before going to Australia for five weeks on 10th September. But on Friday, I was working away in my apartment in Paris (I’m a freelance technical and legal translator) when a large set of scaffolding suddenly hove into sight. I knew it was coming because I’ve been subjected to all sorts of banging and shouting and music and dust for the last nine weeks from my neighbours’ balcony. But I had been told our turn was the end ofAugust.

scaffolding — Scaffolding on my balcony at the Palais Royal

So I had a long chat to the worksite boss, who soon appeared in front of the window. “But it is the end of August !” Well, not quite. I thought I had at least another week to go. He told me the worst would be during the next two weeks, starting Tuesday, when they would be demolishing the large vases and balustrades using their pneumatic drills, from 8 am to 5 pm.

bloggers_breakfast — Fellow bloggers before the scaffolding – A Man and a Woman in Paris, Femmes Francophiles and Out and About in Paris

During that time, the wooden shutters and windows have to be kept closed at all times, leaving practically zero light in my office and the living room. Fortunately, the other side (bedroom and kitchen) won’t be affected. I find it difficult to be deprived of light at the best of times, but 10 weeks of darkness day and night is like a nightmare, not to mention the noise. I’m one of those people who are allergic to radio music when I’m working and these particular workers are very keen on loud rap.

balusters — Balusters about to be replaced

So here I am in the train, on the way to Blois where I’ll stay until the Friday before we leave for Australia. Fortunately I have everything set up to work there, except for my specialised dictionaries, but these days, you can find most of what you want on the Internet and I can always get Relationnel to look something up for me if necessary. He’s coming for three days this weekend and then I’ll only have another few days before I go back to Paris. I would really rather he were with me …

blois_cycle_path — Cycle path opposite Blois

At least I’ll be able to do some gardening and cycling, especially this week, because it looks as if the good weather’s here for a little while longer.

Cycling, Loire Valley, Renovation

Painting the Front Gate and Cycling in a Heat Wave

August 21, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

We’ve all been complaining about the awful weather in France this summer. Then suddenly, when we were least expecting it, a heat wave turned up. Usually after 15th August, it starts getting cooler and you know autumn’s on the way, followed by winter, which is always a bit depressing. Not so this year. In the Loire Valley where I’ve been for the last few days, we’ve been having temperatures in the thirties. I’m not complaining.

closerie_falaiseau — Closerie Falaiseau, 400 years old with its 70 cm thick walls

To start with, we have natural cooling in our 400-year old house in Blois. It’s those 70 cm thick walls ! If you keep the shutters closed while the sun’s on the windows, the house keeps beautifully cool. When we saw the weather forecast we decided to repaint the front gate because every other time we’ve come this summer, it’s been too wet. I’ve been wanting to do it ever since Relationnel applied rust inhibitor.

gate_before — The gate to Closerie Falaiseau in Blois before repainting

The first day, we began late afternoon but it was still pretty hot outside and we were sweltering by dinner time. We continued next morning when it was cooler but couldn’t begin too early because of the dew. Once the gate was dry enough, the sun soon became too hot for the paint (not to mention us!). So in the end it took 3 days to complete. All those curlicues are time-consuming I have to say. But we’re very pleased with the result.

gate_after — The front gate after painting

The gate painting was also complicated by the fact that we wanted to cycle every day as well without getting sunstroke. After rashly starting out late morning to go from Cheverny to Fontaines de Sologne and back the first day, including a very hot picnic on a bench in front of the church, we decided it would be better to cycle in the evening. So we tried to have dinner early so we could go for a ride along the Loire where it’s cooler. Unfortunately the barbecue wouldn’t cooperate and kept going out. When we finally got to the river, it was beautifully cool but there was masses of gnats. The activity on the river was incredible. You could hear the ducks and other wild fowl screeching for miles.

fontaines_sologne — Typical Solognes houses in Fontaines de Sologne in the Loire Valley

The third day, as we were going home to Paris in the evening, we didn’t have much choice so we set off late morning again as soon as the gate was finished. We started upriver in Muides so we could cycle along the Loire to Saint Dyé then onto Chambord because we were sure of finding somewhere to have lunch. We also thought there would be a lot of shade in the forest around Chambord but most of the time we were out in the open.

loire — The Loire River between Muides and Saint Dyé sur Loire

We had lunch under the shady plane trees at Chambord then sat opposite the château and ate raspberries bought at a nearby stall. Not a bad view! On the way home, we found lots of blackberry bushes. Sadly, most of them weren’t ripe. We’ll have to try again when we go back to Blois in two weeks’ time. Raspberries and blackberries are my favourite fruit in France – with the exception of those delicious green Chasselas grapes that are just coming onto the fruit stalls again.

Loire Valley, Sightseeing, Travel photos

Monday’s Travel Photos – Amboise, Loire Valley

August 19, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 12 Comments

Amboise in the Loire Valley is probably the best-known town in the region. Its lovely mediaeval castle and grounds are on the world heritage list and offer an exceptional view of the Loire and surrounding area. In 1516, François I invited Leonardo da Vinci to live in a little château down the road called Le Clos Lucé, used by royalty as a summer residence. Today, visitors can see mock-ups of Leonardo’s incredibly modern inventions. In the summer in particular, Amboise is very animated with lots of eating places along the main street. The best view is from Le Shaker on a little island in the middle of the Loire.

amboise_shakers — Amboise seen from Le Shaker

amboise_castle_side — Amboise Castle from the side

amboise_castle_entrance — Side entrance to Amboise Castle

ambose_street — Half-timbered house in Amboise

amboise_clock_tower — Clock tower in Amboise

amboise_view_loire — Typical view of the Loire

Cycling, Loire Valley, Restaurants, Sightseeing

Cycling in the Loire Valley – Agrémonts Windmill in Bléré and Château de Chenonceau at dusk

August 17, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

Relationnel loves windmills (and wind for that matter) because he grew up in an abandoned windmill near Saumur. Well, the house itself wasn’t abandoned but the windmill no longer had any sails and the wooden structure on top was missing. He was therefore delighted when we arrived in Bléré yesterday to see the beautifully renovated Aigremonts Windmill. Unfortunately we arrived after closing time but were able to walk right around it.

This type of windmill is called a cavier because the milling room was in the cave or cellar of the house. Aigremonts was built between 1845 and 1848 and is 18 metres high. It was renovated by the Bléré municipal council. The base, called a masse, consists of 4 vaulted cellars made of local tufa stone. The massereau or central part housing the mill rooms and milling machinery, is surmounted by a tufa stone cone, the only one to have survived the ravages of war and time.

At the top, the hucherolle (which housed the drive shaft) and the sails (equipped with a Berton system) have been entirely reconstructed.

We then cycled to Chenonceau Castle, one of our favourite rides, which I’ve already described in another post. Just before we reached the château, we came across an air balloon as it was taking off on the other side of the Cher river. You could hear the sound of the fire under the basket. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to one. I really would love to find the courage to go up. It must be quite marvellous.

chenonceau_1 — Chenonceau from the bike path along the Cher

Then we rounded the corner and Chenonceau was waiting for us, as impressive as ever. The light was just perfect – it was about 8 pm and dusk was falling. We’d never seen it at that time of the day. You could even see the water on the other side through the windows of the gallery that spans the Cher.

chenonceau_2 — Chenonceau reflected in the Cher at dusk

We rode down as far as the bridge and back towards the château. We would have loved to watch the sunset but the bike path would have been too dark to come back and it’s a pretty bumpy ride, with lots of large tree roots and stones. I didn’t want to take the risk of falling in the river!

chenonceau_3 — The château from the other side

So we rode back to Bléré and had dinner at a little open-air restaurant on the main square called Le Bonheur est dans le pré. We ended up chatting to our neighbours who have a property where they hunt and fish in nearby Sologne. We exchanged phone numbers so it looks like we’ll be having game for Christmas this year!

Moulin des Aigremonts

Opening times :

27th May to 4th September : Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 12 noon and 3 pm to 6 pm.

Also open during heritage weekend (15th and 16th September 2012)

2 euro for adults, free for children up to 13.

Flowers & gardens, Loire Valley

The Wonderful Gardens of Château de Chaumont

August 15, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 9 Comments

Every time we go from Blois to Amboise, we pass Château de Chaumont, which stands majestically above the Loire River, with a quaint little row of houses below.

I visited it some years ago and was not very impressed with the inside which is rather delapidated. It must have been in the winter too because I don’t remember the gardens at all and I found the view of the river quite austere. Quite by accident today, we decided to visit the gardens where the 20th edition of the International Garden Festival is being held.

Chaumont_from_garden — Château de Chaumont seen from the historical garden

What a wonderful discovery! The gardens, with the château as a backdrop, are absolutely delightful. I just love the colours and the wonderful, sweeping view of the Loire which in summer is far more attractive than in winter, I can assure you!

Loire River from Château de Chaumont

The festival entries are a little uneven in quality – some are lovely while others seem somewhat naive. But all thirty gardens are interesting.

We then visited the vegetable garden and the historical garden with its sweeping cedars.

Despite the price (11 euro per person), I’m definitely coming back again next year!

International Garden Festival of Chaumont

Château de Chamont

Loire Valley between Blois and Amboise

April to October every year

Cycling, Loire Valley, Restaurants

Cycling in the Loire – Château de Chambord

August 13, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 11 Comments

My highschool friend Jane is staying with me in Blois for a few days. It’s quite hot so we’ve decided to cycle late afternoon and dine out. Jane has been cycling in Townsville along the Ross River in preparation for her visit and the day before, we’ve already ridden along the Loire from Château Menars to Saint Dyé sur Loire and back, a comfortable 16 K.

halle_bracieux — 17th century market place in Bracieux

I’ve checked my bike map, Les Châteaux à Vélo, and seen that Bracieux to Chambord is about 8 K, which is perfect. I know the route because I’ve cycled on it before. You may remember that Bracieux is the little town where Relationnel and I were recently dubbed “cute” by one of the locals. We arrive in Bracieux without mishap and take the bikes off the back of the car. We’re organised by now and have everything we need, including our rain capes because there are a few blackish clouds floating around.

chambord_sun — Chambord in the sun, taken during a previous ride

We ride into the town and check out the 17th century market place. We see that the restaurant on the corner “Au Fil du Temps” is open because the tables under the market place are already set. Off we go and I realise that I don’t know where the bike route is. I hate to admit this, but when I’m with Relationnel, I leave that sort of thing to him. We head off in what seems a likely direction and eventually find a little bike sign saying “Chambord”.
“I guess it’s because we already went cycling yesterday”, says Jane after about 5 k, “but it doesn’t seem as easy today”. “Don’t worry”, I reply, “only about 3 K to go”. But we arrive in a town that I don’t remember seeing before called Neuvy. It’s a bit worrying because I can’t see it on my map either. Some other cyclists tell us they’ve just come from Chambord.

gates_chambord — Entrance to the grounds of Chambord

I see a sign that says 11 K. Oops ! We find a street map and discover that we must have missed a turnoff early in the procedure and have been going east instead of north.
Jane looks very discouraged. We head off in the right direction this time, along a forest road, and when we get to the crossroads between Chambord (5 K) and Bracieux (3 K), she decides that we may as well push on to Chambord after coming all this way. We finally get to the stone wall surrounding the castle and enclosing what was François Ier’s favourite hunting domain. No one ever lived in Chambord – he used to travel with everything and everyone he needed, including furniture.

chambord_jane — Jane discovers Chambord after a long, hard ride!

I miss the cycle route (again!) so we join it a little further on, which seems preferable to cycling along the edge of a 70 kph road. Now it’s spitting. We come out just before the château and as we round the corner, the view is breathtaking. We put on our capes but the sun then comes out and casts a wonderful light on the castle. We cycle through the grounds, past the château and finally stop and have a cold drink at a café with the castle in full view, just as everyone is packing up. By then it’s 7.45 pm but it’s still full daylight.

After a suitable rest, we go back along the 8 K route we were originally supposed to take! By the time we arrive back in Bracieux, we’ve ridden 30 K and Jane is understandably very proud of herself as 16 K is her record. We decide to have the full menu for 26 euro at Au Fil du Temps. There isn’t a wide choice, but the entrée (melon for Jane, smoked salmon for me) and main course (fresh salmon for Jane and entrecôte for me) are good value for money. The tarte tatin is somewhat disappointing. The service is friendly, however, and the setting is definitely worth it!

Au Fil du Temps, 11 Halle, 41250 Bracieux, France Tel. 0254460384

Flowers & gardens, France, Loire Valley

Sans Keys Again!

August 10, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

Yesterday, I picked up Jane, my faithful friend from high school days, who still lives in my hometown (Townsville, whose name, to French people, borders on the absurd, but it was founded by Sir Robert Towns) at Gare du Nord in Paris and drove to Blois. Jane is a seasoned traveller, with friends across the world, and often comes to visit. The Tom Tom took us on a very strange but competely unencumbered route out of the city and a couple of hours later we were in Blois and I was able to introduce Jane to Closerie Falaiseau.

SANS keys. Again. Fortunately we’ve set up a code box system with the key inside for our gîte guests so were able to get in. I was relieved because I didn’t want to admit to Relationnel that I’d forgotten my keys again. The only problem is that we could get into the gîte OK, but not into our part of the house, for which I needed the key to the back garden. So I had to ring Relationnel after all. Fortunately, he’s so organised that his set of keys was in the car.

It was great to explore the garden and see what had grown since last Sunday. More gladioli have bloomed and we now have three different colours. Not very straight admittedly but I’m still amazed that they have grown at all. The Pierre Ronsard roses on the front steps are in full bloom again and our multicoloured yellow-to-pink Saharan rose bush that we bought at Orchaise Priory at the beginning of June has three roses and lots of buds.

All the wizened potatoes we planted two weeks ago have taken but I’m very disappointed that the raspberries are not forthcoming. Jane is enjoying the wild strawberries growing in the garden of the little house though. What a pity I don’t like strawberries!

Aussie in France